Bonellin

Bonellin is a toxin secreted by Bonellia viridis, it is also a pigment which gives it its green coloration. 

For many years, it was believed that it was chlorophyll, then scientists believed it was just a derivative. It is now well established that bonellin is a chlorine, completely unrelated to chlorophyll (Pisanti, 1985). Its production is determined by a photoactive process, meaning that light is activating the production. The higher the light intensity is, the more bonellin is produced (Agius et al. 1979). 

It is used by Bonellia viridis as a protection and defense against prokariotic and eukariotic organisms. Bonellin has many properties, it blocks the embryonic development, stops cellular reproduction, muscle contraction, ciliary and flagella motility and causes cellular disaggregation (Pisanti et al. 1985). These actions are lethal to any organism that could try to parasite it.